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______________________________________________________________ --- Welcome To --- H o me B i z B y t e s Visit us on the Web at:http://www.HomeBusinessOnline.com ..... January 3, 2000 Our Premiere Issue...Phew! * See end for contact, submission and subscriber information. _____IN THIS ISSUE_______________________
- EDITOR'S RAMBLINGS - FEATURED ARTICLE - COLOSSALLY COOL CLASSIFIEDS - TIP OF THE DAY - DOWNLOAD OF THE DAY - ONLINE RESOURCES OF THE DAY - SITES OF THE DAY - Contact, Submission and Subscriber Info _____PAY ATTENTION!______________________ Want to advertise in this top sponsor spot? You can to over 7,000 subscribers for only $30 for a limited time. Just email me and I'll set it up for you! HBB_sponsor@HomeBusinessOnline.com _________________________________________ A new year...a new millenium... a new Ezine! And, we're starting off with over 7,000 opt-in subscribers of home-based working professionals and wannabees, like yourself. How did we do that? I'll save that for a later issue. It should make for very interesting content. As editor of HomeBizBytes, I'm very anxious to bring you quality content each week. Please write and tell me how you think we're doing and how we can improve. Don't be shy now. I want to get to know each one of you by name. While you're at it, why don't you send me a bit about yourself, maybe even a picture. Here's my email:
Ramblings... So how did you get through Y2K? Any blackouts? Computer crashes? Riots? "No," you say? What a let down, huh? Actually, Dave, our computer guru around here at HomeBusinessOnline.com, was so convinced that this Y2K stuff was so overhyped, that we didn't even backup our data on Dec. 31st. Just continued with our regular backups. Now, I know there was a need for financial and medical institutions to get prepared, but have you wondered how many millions, no... billions of dollars have been shamelessly shysted by Y2K opportunists? Will the hype return as the "real" millenium approaches for next year? Hmmm. Will 20th Century Fox change their name and logo? So many questions. Happy New Year! Don't forget to tell me about yourself and give some feedback. Heidi Perry P.S... We just left the 1990's. But, what should we call the first 10 years of this new millenium? The first decade? The 2000's? Let us know what you think by placing your vote at http://www.HomeBusinessOnline.com/cgi-bin/MultiPoll_v2.5.cgi?id=0103100121858 Note: If your email program wraps the above URL, you will need to copy and paste to make sure you get the entire URL, or link to it from here: http://www.HomeBusinessOnline.com/cgi-bin/MultiPoll_v2.5.cgi _________________________________________ For years I have registered my domains with Network Solutions... $70 for two years. There was no reason to consider doing it any other way. That was simply the way it was done. But, things are a-changin'. In October, 1999, I started hearing talk of deregulation and other companies were vying for my domain name registration business. Not only this, but as of the past few weeks, we can now register domain names as long as 67 characters in length. That's a dramatic change from the previous 22-character limit. But, here's the catch. At the moment, you can only register these domains at a handful of sites and Network Solutions is NOT one of them. This can all seem quite confusing. Wouldn't it be nice if someone would explain what's happened and how it effects you? Would you like to know the best places to register your domains? Where is the cheapest place? Is it safe? And, are the long domain names really worth it or is it just a bunch of hype? Let me shed some light on the domain registration process and its changes first. Per a mandate published by the U.S. Commerce Department in late 1998, the monopoly held by Network Solutions has ended. This is very good news for us little guys. It means competition with new domain name registrars, which brings lower pricing and better customer service. (I can't imagine anyone having poorer customer service than Network Solutions!) New domain name registrars are accredited by an organization called The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN ( http://www.icann.org ), the agency which is now responsible for management of the global Domain Name System. By the way, ICANN is also the organization that will regulate new top level domain name extensions such as .shop and .art. As I understand it, ICANN and Network Solutions have entered into an agreement where Network Solutions will still maintain the actual database, but a host of other new companies, regulated by ICANN, can now compete by performing the registration, billing and other administrative services, including domain name disputes. Does this mean Network Solutions will lose out on some tremendous business? Hardly. Under the agreement, each time you or I register a domain name through any of the new companies, Network Solutions gets a cut of $18 for each domain name. They also receive some pretty hefty setup fees from new domain name registrar companies who need to hook into the database maintained by Network Solutions. Actually, anyone with money and acceptable credentials can now be a registrar. In plain terms, what does this mean? As of Oct. 1, 1999, you no longer need to use Network Solutions to register domain names. Currently, there are over 20 new companies that can register them for you, some offering prices as low as 50% less than Network Solutions. Many more companies are sure to pop up over time. You'll find a long list of pending registrars on the sidebar at http://www.betterwhois.com . By the way, this is the site I use to research a domain name first. It's a great resource. Of all the registars and their affiliates, the cheapest I have found is TotalNic, http://www.totalnic.net . They will register your new domain name for $35 for two years. Network Solutions will charge you $70 for two years. I decided to give TotalNic a try. Although there are some details that need to be ironed out, their registration process was fairly simple. You will need to be aware they are anticipating that if you register with them, you will also host your website with them. As such, their hosting information is automatically inserted in the domain registration form. If you do not wish to host with them, you will need to physically copy your web host's information over their's. Are these new companies safe? Yes, they are regulated by ICANN and are in jeopardy of losing their accreditation if they play fast and loose with you. Before you sign up with any of the new registrars, check to make sure they are legit by looking through all of their materials to find out how they are linked to ICANN. Are they directly accredited through ICANN? Or are they a subset of another company? Either way it's okay, i.e. TotalNic is accredited through CORE. Just make sure you can verify the relationship. You will find ICANN's direct list of accredited registrars at http://www.icann.org/registrars/accredited-list.htm . Now that we've covered the domain name registration process, let's touch on a topic that's a little more volatile... the 67-character domains. You may have already received an email or two about "rushing" to register your looooong domain names now that the character limit has been extended to 67 characters (including the .com, .net or .org). After all, over 7,000 were registered in the first week. Do you need to jump on this bandwagon? Yes and no. First of all, don't jump and register a long domain name just because someone tells you there's a rush. "Fools rush in." The 67 characters open up all sorts of possibilities and combinations of characters, enough to keep us going for some years. Why should you register a long domain name? I see two main reasons: 1) You have a name or topic that is truly a legitimately long name, i.e CertifiedPublicAccountants.com, or 2) You want to increase your position in the search engines by mirroring long, keyword-rich domains. But, be careful with the latter. Some opportunists will tell you that you have to do this to up your position. That is not necessarily true. It is true that search engines do like keyword-rich sites, even in domain names. Larry Boardman of Electronic Marketing, Inc., http://www.thewebdr.com , had this to say:
Nevertheless, search engines are not the end-all to traffic. I guess what I'm suggesting here is that you not go hog wild in registering tons of sites with all sorts of keywords unless you've got a strategy. You'll end up wasting your money and then being disappointed later. Not only this, but I suspect it's only time before search engines will find a way to get around long domain name spammers who are not legitimately taking advantage of the extended characters. And, in time I expect that search engines will stop listing mirrored domains. For now, there are definitely some advantages when used wisely. The great domain name rush is on! Send feedback on this article to _____LOOK!_______________________________ We're celebrating our new Ezine and would like to offer you a one-time super deal. * We'll place your Classified Ad in our Ezine for the next TWO issues for ONLY $9... over 7,000 subscribers! - 3 lines of text + 1 line for clickable URL or Email Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover Card or FAX a check to us... FAX: 801-785-0193 MIDNIGHT, THIS FRIDAY, JANUARY 7TH _________________________________________ * IF YOU HAVE ANY INTEREST IN SELLING ANYTHING ONLINE, http://www.sitesell.com/how_to.html * FINANCING FOR YOUR WEBSITE! Understanding your small http://www.websitefinancing.com/click.asp?AssociateID=11408 * MAKE 1999 THE EASIEST TAX SEASON EVER! Why not try Turbo http://www.websponsors.com/cgi-bin/ad_click.cgi?userid=288&offerid=619 * ADVERTISE IN OUR POPULAR CLASSIFIEDS AT OUR WEBSITE, http://www.HomeBusinessOnline.com/market/classifieds/links/add.cgi _________________________________________ The holiday season is over and you survived Y2K. Phew! The pressure is off and it's time to do some serious planning and marketing. You're working on a tight budget and want to use your money as wisely as possible, a concept with which I can readily relate! But where should you advertise? When? I'll touch on the where in a later tip. Let's start with when. Of course, there are many factors that will change the outcome of the effectiveness of your ad, even seasonally. But, let me offer a quick, general guideline from personal experience. The beginning of the year is always a great time to advertise. People are making New Year's resolutions and are looking for solutions, things that will enhance their personal lives, their professions, their households. The first quarter of the year is also excellent for business- to-business advertising. January through May are well-known to be good months. The summer months are generally dry months, with the exception of the internet. Many people go online during those months to browse. The summer offers a relaxed, no-worries atmosphere for online shoppers and opportunity-seekers alike. Now, with the above in mind, I will share with you my very general observations of the best months to run ads. These will vary with online and offline advertising, as well as how seasonal your product or service might be.
This is only a general guideline. You'll have to test and judge for yourself. Good luck! _________________________________________ More Space 99 Here's a great free, ad-supported download to clean up your hard drive and free up disk space for the new year. More Space 99 has received a 5-star rating by ZDNet and has received over 300,000 downloads. I've accumulated so much junk throughout this past year, I'm definitely going to give it a try. Here's what it does: "Utility helps free up valuable disk space by searching out duplicate files, file hogs, and old files. Move files to the recycle bin, archive them in a zip file, or delete them altogether. Displays useful statistics about hard drives, providing you with an overview of the files on your hard disk. Cleans cache directories easily. Also works with network drives. A 16-bit version is available. Great for cleaning up your hard disk." http://www.contactplus.com/products/morspc/morespc.htm _________________________________________ Want to know how to be included here? * Excellent Ezine: MEDIAPEAK NEWS SERVICE Provides excellent content you can use for your own newsletters. Media Peak also includes some great resources and links. Subscribe .......... * Useful Discussion List/Board: HOMEBIZ DISCUSSION LIST... [homebiz] Moderated: Yes - Moderators, Bob Cortez & Billi Perry Subscribe _________________________________________ * Outstanding Home-based Site of the Day: COUNTRY T'S I'm not easily impressed, but Chuck Nickerson has impressed the socks off of me with his Country T's website. When he says he has hundreds of T-shirts (designs) to choose from, he's not kidding. Actually, that's an understatement. Each category has dozens of subcategories, and within each subcategory are dozens of designs from which to choose. He has used cold fusion to develop his extensive site, making it easy to organize hundreds of thumbnail pictures and categories. Categories include Humorous, Animals, Children, Grandparents, Religious, Christian, Trains, Holidays and more. Designs can be printed on T-shirts (white or grey), sweatshirts, niteshirts, or tote bags. Oh, and yes, wholesale purchases are available. Folks, if you can't find something here you can use, quit looking! Way to go, Chuck. ---------- * Just For Kicks Site of the Day: THE MOTHER OF ALL EXCUSES PLACE Need a good excuse to break a date? For missing an appointment? For speeding? This site will give you plenty of excuses for any occasion. We can't be held responsible for the consequences! _________________________________________ * Please tell us how we're doing! Send any comments
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"The Great Domain Rush"